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Ethics and the Workplace
So we have a definition of ethics and ethical responsibility, let's now discuss ethical issues that we encounter in our workplace. When we think about Information Systems and our workplace what is it that comes to mind? *ESS - Executive Support Systems *DSS - Decision Support Systems *ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning *HRM - Human Resource Management System But Information Systems are systems that represent information from data, correct? how about the systems that we use which are not internal? *Email *Social media *GPS *RFID These too are systems of information and being in the age of Information the evolution of technology now exists not only in our workplace but in our daily lives. There are many issues that cover ethics; Security, control, privacy, confidentiality, accountability, integrety... But we're going to summarise them with a simple acronym. PAPA. 'P'rivacy 'A'ccuracy 'P'roperty 'A'ccessibility.(Mason, 1968) Privacy How private is your online information? In the real world we don't share all our private information with others, we share what we want to share but when you fill out forms online about yourself is it truly necessary to provide your Full name, DOB, gender, address and now access to your location? But it doesn't stop there, how about the collection of your opinion or where you work or your banking and medical records? What exactly does the organisation want with your personal information? Organisations and their employees must show Ethical Responsibility in the collection of a person’s data, and that responsibility is clearly stating their intentions of how that information may be used. Accuracy When dealing with the accuracy of data there needs to be a level of accountability of who is responsible for the data being collected. Very rarely do computers make mistakes, but people handling computers are bound to make mistakes. It is the the Ethical Responsibility of an employee of a company to accurately double check data entries to maintain integrity through accuracy. Property What is it exactly that is collected about us online? How much control does one have over his or hers personal information online? When it comes to property there seems to be a blanket over what companies tell us and what they are actually collecting. I mean who really reads every T&C disclosure when signing up to a website? When organisations collect this data it is their Ethical Responsibility to honestly state if the customers data will be shared or kept private. If it is shared the customers should be alerted or asked whether or not to allow third party use of the data, but if it is kept private companies must keep their bid in maintaining secrecy of that data. Accessibility The issue we are faced when providing information to organisations is who is accessing that data? It is one thing for a company to state that your data will be kept private but private from who? Third party organisations? How about internal privacy? How safeguard is your information? Can someone in the company with a level 2 clearance easily gain access to level 7 clearance? What about employees with level 7 clearance, can they willingly without a customer’s consent? These are all cases of unethical practice. Organisations should have guidelines and regulations for the access of data without consent. Employees on the other hand must be Ethically Responsible in showing control over data that is available to them but not without consent of a customer. Here is a short video of a TED talk which explains the notion of digital tattoos and the serverity they can have on our privacy.